(last updated in autumn 2023… <3)
About Iva
Iva [ee-vah] is an independent performing arts collective based in Tampere, Finland. As nothing else made more sense, Iva was founded by three friends Mimmi Ahonen, Kata Korpela and Ville Vuorikoski about to graduate from upper secondary school in May 2018. Ever since we have happily worked with dear friends, all of us in our twenties and many of us studying theater, film, art, media and social policy.
Our main focus is in creating site-specific queer performances in different locations around Tampere. In addition we are intrigued / inspired by / annoyed / in love with all things gen z, pop culture and the climate crisis. New topics and new formats keep emerging as we are very curious and very hungry. We also work to make our events and performances as safe and accessible as possible, educating ourselves on all the aspects that can be related to it.
As of August 2023, we’ve had five premieres:
Valuma (2019), a 45-minute drama piece on two siblings unraveling silenced violence from childhood as they lose their mom in the present. It was performed in Kenneli DIY which is a crowdfunded concrete skatepark in Hiedanranta, an old factory site in the periphery of Tampere.
Dinneri (2020), a drive-in theater show at a parking lot near the Pyynikki Summer Theater, which itself was on hiatus due to the pandemic at the time. Dinneri took upon the tradition of American drive-in cinema: the stage was framed with a silver screen with live footage projected onto it, the audience was assigned each their own parking space with safety distances and were invited to arrive by car, bike or for a picnic. Sound was performed via radio frequency. The play itself unfolded in front of and behind the screen and audience vehicles. Dinneri was in essence a summer rom-com meets straight people parody.
Case Crisis (ilmastomurha, malegazelesbo-besties-catfight-kompleksi jne.) (2021), a two-hour musical theater piece that combined early 2000’s Charlie’s Angels movies, female pop music and the queer-feminist agenda. Iva took over an old 500 m² office space with endless pop culture references, beats and a plan to assassinate an obscure male leader. The performance was also produced into a music album of the same name.
Rosendal, Rosendahl (2022), a dual sad girl manifesto set physically on a concrete platform in Rosendahl, Tampere and mentally in a rose garden at the Rosendal barony in Norway. The Lana Del Rey fueled performance handled online communities romanticizing mental illness – three girls make a pact to end it all at their high school graduation. It was performed at sunset o’clock by the Pyhäjärvi lake.
Watching me, watching you (2023) was set in a film studio in Tampere’s Mediapolis – in Finland’s Hollywood, one might suggest. The audience was invited to witness the filming of an international blockbuster-to-be, only to see the story slowly fall apart, or fade away. Both the fictional characters of the film and the crew creating it long for change. They reach for the Moon only to learn that they liked it better when they couldn’t see it up close. Audience participation was an essential part of the piece as they toured around the film studio, and the Moon.
In addition to our main pieces we organize free events and host parties – such as DJ sets or karaoke in public parks, film screenings or small monologue performances in art galleries – and create online audio pieces. Anything could be next!
If you’re interested in working with us, come forward with an e-mail or a DM on Instagram or Facebook. < 3
Iva 